Harman Kardon BDS 776W vs Samsung HT E6500

[Axonn]

I don't get it. Why is the Harman Kardon so damned expensive even though it has way less power?

Yeah I know power doesn't mean everything, but come on!

http://www.elgiganten.se/is-bin/INT...ore-elgigantenSE|HKBDS776W@store-elgigantenSE

What do you think about the Sony or Samsung speakers?

 

[kornphlake]

Harman Kardon is more expensive partly because of the name, and partly because of the quality, although depending on who you ask, Harman Kardon doesn't have the same quality they used to.

Sony and Samsung are likely rating the power of the system by adding up the peak power for each channel, in the real world the amp can't supply peak power to all channels simultaneously for more than an instant. This is why reputable manufacturers use RMS (root means squared - a complicated way of calculating an average) power rating instead of peak power ratings, RMS power is more representative of real world performance.

I don't know what your needs are, or what the currency conversions are but for the same price as the harman kardon system you might be able to build a better system using separate components rather than buying an all in one kit.

 

[Axonn]

Definitely the power ratings are not RMS, but they aren't bad either I guess.

As for currency: the Harman is about 1400 Euro, the Sony/Samsung about 800 Euro.

I think a set can have a better value proposition and right now I'm not looking for Hi-Fi. I'm looking for medium quality, enough for apartment home cinema. When I'll have a house, THEN it'll be worth it to go for Hi-Fi.

And on that trail of thought... I think I'll pass Harman Kardon. Doesn't worth it.

 

[kornphlake]

Take the Sony for example which claims 1000w, divide that by 6 channels and you get 167w per channel peak output, that's probably closer to 100w RMS which is still suspicious. I have no idea what the HK is really rated at because at 325w RMS it would be one of the most powerful amps HK makes, divide 325w by 6 channels and you're at 50 watts per channel which is probably close to the real RMS power.

No matter how you look at it the manufacturers numbers are intentionally misleading, if you can listen to each system before buying, you'll potentially save a lot of money. At this price point I would argue that the quality of the speakers is going to be more important than the quality of the electronics. None of the brands you are considering are really known for superior loudspeakers.

 

[purbeast0]

during my 2-3 months of research for my HT stuff i've learned that advertised wattage is pretty useless for receiver stats. i'd recommend to simply head over to AVS and do some real research.

 

[fuzzymath10]

Pretty sure you need to be wary of just looking at the wattage. You can get very cheap speakers advertised as 1000W where the speakers look fancy and tall but don't sound great. The KEFs I have below are "only" 100W per channel and are powered by an amp that is "only" 90W per channel but I am going to be happy with this combination for a very long time.

 

[Howard]

Look at the back of the unit and see what is the max current draw. Multiply that by the voltage, and then multiply by 0.8. The combined power that the receiver can push out is almost guaranteed to be less than that number.

 

[Axonn]

Thanks guys. I'll go and put some of those speakers through their paces at the shop!